From the Streets to the Olympics

Breaking is heading to the summer 2024 Olympics in Paris, but in the early 1970s, it was exclusive to Black and Puerto Rican youth in the South Bronx. Inspired by disparate worlds like martial arts and salsa music, explore the early years of this cultural phenomenon, from the city streets of a burning borough to formal competitions like Lords of the Floor and BC One.

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Photo: Leo Vals/Getty Images

“Some say hip-hop begins with the DJ. But actually, hip-hop culture itself begins with the b-boy. We’re the x-factor.”

Simply put, breaking originates from gang culture—“crews” being a direct reference to gang life as well as matching fits. In the early days, groups may have had one breaker, but it was rare to have a crew of ALL breakers—until the Mighty Zulu Kings, who united breakers and emphasized the community-building aspects of gang life, like mentorship, loyalty, and mutual aid.

Popmaster Fabel, a member of the Mighty Zulu Kings who are known as the first breaking crew established in 1973. Photo: Ernie Paniccioli.

Breaking is traced back to the late 1960s, to the “uprock” a one-on-one dance style popular with Puerto Rican gang members. Performed upright and to the beat of salsa and rock and roll songs, the uprock was a simulated fight without actual contact. B-boying, perfected by Black and Latino youth, introduced ornate floor moves, like windmills and headspins, and was performed in a “cypher,” a circle of participants and voyeurs alike on the dancefloor.

THE ORIGINS

Breakers often began their set with an the uprock, dancing upright before moving into intricate floor moves.

Breaking is named after the instrumental interludes in the middle of a song. B-boys and b-girls—"breakers" for a gender-inclusive moniker—used “the breaks” to show off their moves at a party. The “B” is still up for interpretation and has been said to represent “boogie,” “Bronx,” or “break,” depending on the source.

These are the breaks!

Deep Cuts

Before hip-hop & rap songs, breakers danced to Motown, R&B, rock, disco, Euro-electro-pop, and salsa. Most tracks were deep cuts, the B-sides, and rarely were they number one hits of the time.

Listen

James Brown

In 1972, James Brown changed the game with the release of his track, “Get on the Good Foot,” which became a DJ anthem and breaker favorite. Brown himself was a heavy influence on breaker style, with his intricate footwork freestyles, splits, and gyrations.

James Brown displays his fancy footwork, illustrating his influence on breaking and hip-hop at large. Photo: Harry Benson.

The early 1970s brought a new wave of cultural influences. Kung Fu movies were fresh on the scene and Bruce Lee quickly became an American icon as one of the first non-white superheroes. It wasn’t long before breakers included martial arts flare in their sets.

Bruce Lee

Breaking was influenced by disparate worlds like Kung Fu movies, tap dancing, salsa moves, and James Brown.

Some crews rocked personalized jackets—a relic of street-gang culture—others donned tracksuits, the slippery nylon fabric was ideal for floor spins. Since breaking was acrobatic and physical, comfort was key and sneakers like Chuck Taylors, Puma Suedes, shell-toed Adidas, Nike Cortez, and Pro-Keds were all b-boy favorites.

Sneaker Heads:

Four Pillars of Hip Hop

The DJ existed before hip hop was established and made playing records into an art form by elongating the instrumental “break down” of a song.

A confluence of art and athleticism, and rooted in competition, breakers brought the movement to the party and the hip-hop equation.

Breaking

Graffiti writers animated the facades of buildings and subway cars with aerosol murals or “pieces” long before hip-hop was established. Many writers were also breakers, DJs, and/or MCs.

Graffiti

The MC is often considered the last pillar of hip-hop. At first, the MC rhymed to instigate b-boys at a party while the DJ kept the breakbeat going, but later, MC'ing matured into a performance of its own.

The MC

Breakers needed something to dance to. DJs like Grandmaster Flash and DJ Kool Herc leaned into funk and R&B tracks with extended breakbeats, and breakers took notice. The first recorded hip-hop party was hosted in 1973 by Jamaican-American DJ, Clive "Kool Herc" Campbell; a back-to-school dance in the community room of his apartment building in the South Bronx.

The DJ!

Grandmaster Flash keeps his eye on the crowd as he spins records spin on the decks. Photo: Getty Images.

On the East Coast, there was breaking and the uprock, but crews were "popping" and "locking" on the West Coast. "The Lockers" crew wowed audiences in 1973 on Soul Train with their robotic choreography. Adolfo “Shabba Doo” Quiñones, an original Lockers member, went on to star in breaking films of the 1980s and choreographed moves for acts like Madonna and Luther Vandross. In 1979, the Electric Boogaloos debuted “popping” on Soul Train—a style that flows between robotic poses and originates from Boogaloo, a funk-based dance from Oakland, California. During their Soul Train debut, a member glides to the front of the stage doing the “backslide,” a move now known as the Moonwalk.

Popping and Locking

After seeing them on Soul Train, Michael Jackson invited the Electric Boogaloos to choreograph his “Thriller” and “Beat It” music videos, launching a decades-long relationship of creative collaboration. The EB’s influence on MJ was displayed in 1983 when he debuted the Moonwalk on television and the rest is history.

The Moonwalk

Gangs of New York

Sugar Hill Gang's song "Rappers Delight" becomes a number one hit on the Dutch and Canadian charts, number three in the UK, and a top 40 hit in the United States. Photo: Getty Images

The popularity of Sugar Hill Gang’s track, “Rapper's Delight,” helped skyrocket hip-hop, and its four pillars, to international audiences. Planting the seeds for its popularity in the 1980s.

Rapper’s Delight

It’s breaking not breakdancing

Generally speaking, hip-hop was an uptown thing—enjoyed by Black and Latino communities in upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the South Bronx—whereas Disco was the music of posh midtown clubs. Photo: Getty Images

The spectacle of breaking peaked at the 1984 Summer Olympics, far from its competitive roots.

Double dutch was a popular sport in 1970s New York City. Video excerpt from "Pick Up Your Feet: the Double Dutch Show" footage provided by MoreArtistsMovies.com.

The nascent breaking scene was featured in a handful of motion pictures and popped up on the streets around the world, from Japan to Australia, Mexico and the Philippines.

Breaking lept onto the big screen in a series of seminal films that introduced hip-hop to international audiences. Wild Style (1982) is regarded as the first hip-hop motion picture and presented the four pillars in conversation on screen. The opening scene of the blockbuster, Flashdance (1983), featured the Rock Steady Crew and others doing fancy footwork, puppetry, backslides, and freezes. The climax came in 1984 with the releases of Beat Street and the sequel, Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Flashdance and Wild Style

H.I.P. H.O.P. on TV

Riding the wave of emerging mainstream popularity, weekly hip-hop programs hit the airwaves. H.I.P. H.O.P., debuted in France and aired for forty-three weeks—establishing France as a hip-hop hot spot. A pilot for Graffiti Rock also aired in New York state, with a Soul Train-like format that featured Run D.M.C., the New York City Rockers, and easter eggs like actress Debi Mazar.

In 1984, breaking took the world stage at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Over 100 B-boys and B-girls danced in Lionel Richie's closing night performance of "All Night Long." Breaking would make its Olympic debut as a sport in the 2018 youth summer Olympics and is slated to be featured in the 2024 summer Olympics in Paris.

All Night Long at the Summer Olympics

As DJs and breakers became a fixture in the party circuit of nightclubs like the Roxy and Negril (the first hip-hop club in NYC), artsy audiences were exposed to an uptown vibe that had been brewing for almost a decade. Hip-hop, pop, and punk scenes begin to intermingle and influence each other. This cultural cocktail is exemplified by Blondie’s 1980 international hit, “Rapture,” in which she namedrops hip-hop DJ, Fab 5 Freddy.

Breaking’s Rapture

"When these dances gained notice in the '80s outside of their geographic contexts, the diverse styles were lumped together under the tag 'break dancing.’” —Jeff Chang, author of Can’t Stop Won’t Stop. By the 1980s, breaking’s popularity attracted mainstream attention. To appeal to general audiences, media outlets coin “breakdancing” as an umbrella term, which flattened the diversity and regionality of styles into one marketable moniker.

In the 1980s hip-hop emerged from the subculture into the spotlight. In some ways, breakers had become diplomats for the United States—touring the world and performing for figures like Queen Elizabeth and US President Ronald Reagan. Hip-hop established itself as a legit cultural phenomenon, but breaking began to stray from its competitive origins.

Hip Hop spreads to Europe

The New York City Rap Tour was the first international hip-hop tour to cross the pond. Produced by DJ Fab 5 Freddy, club promoter Kool Lady Blue (also Rock Steady Crew's manager), a European radio station, and French record labels, the show traveled to Paris, Lyon, Belfort, Mulhouse, Strasbourg, London, and Los Angeles. It presented the four pillars of hip-hop (plus one) on stage: DJ'ing, breaking, graffiti, MCs and a lesser-known element with roots in hip-hop: double dutch.

Where the Ladies at?

Without a doubt, breaking was largely a machismo and male-dominated space, but that doesn’t mean women weren’t in the mix. Daisy “Baby Love” Castro was the sole female member of the Rock Steady Crew for three years. There was the Dynamic Dolls, an all-woman sub-group of the Dynamic Rockers. An adjacent scene to breaking—with an almost entirely Black and female demographic, rooted in competition—was double-dutch. Jumpers festively hop up and down between two rotating jump ropes to the beat of rhythmic chants. Much like breaking, teams end their set with a frozen pose. It’s said that double-dutch faded from the hip-hop lexicon with the release of the film Wild Style (1982), which left out the scene entirely. If included, perhaps there would be five pillars of hip-hop.

The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a hub for the symphony, opera and ballet, so an unlikely location for a breaking battle. For its 10th annual Out-of-Doors Festival in 1981, the Rock Steady Crew and Dynamic Rockers faced off in a “new form of competitive dance,” according to the New York Times. Before this, breaking was performed in clubs, parks, and skating rinks, but this was its formal introduction to the general public.

Battle of the Boroughs

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Video: excerpt from Catch a Beat (1981), by hip-hop vanguard and filmmaker, Michael Holman.

COMPETITIVE SPIRIT

Battle of the Year

Freestyle Sessions helped establish the global competitive breaking circuit. Founded by Chris “CROS 1” Wright in 1997, a vanguard of the breaking scene, Freestyle Sessions strived to connect the dots between breakers across generations and regions. It traveled to over forty countries, spreading the gospel of breaking and helping establish scenes in Japan and Korea. CROS 1 also cofounded the domestic breaker event, Out For Fame, with famed b-boy, Paulskee.

Freestyle Session

A handful of competitions have earned the title of influencing the game. The Battle of the Year debuted in Hanover, Germany, in 1990, to unite breakers across European borders. Organizers invited crews from Switzerland, England, the German Democratic Republic, and later Hungary and Italy and by 2000, BOTY was international with crowds exceeding 10,000. Then there’s the B-Boy Summit, founded by b-girl, Asia One, in 1994. It celebrated all four pillars of hip-hop through breaking competitions, MC performances, and panels designed to nurture the hip-hop community. The list goes on.

No longer center stage, breakers turned the focus towards their communities and created international competitions with a for-breakers-by-breakers ethos that judged skill and technique in various event formats. Regional styles were more prevalent during this time, too, as the internet wasn't widely used or reliable until the mid-decade, skill-sharing relied on VHS tape exchanges of recorded battles from traveling breakers.

DVD Evolution

“For the first time, B-Boys were treated like rock stars,” recalls Jeromeskee, of the Massive Monkees crew. Photo: James Newman.

The first Lords of the Floor (LOTF) competition was in 2001 in Seattle, Washington, and welcomed breakers from across the globe to go head-to-head. Sponsored by Red Bull and co-hosted by CROS 1 of Freestyle Sessions, LOTF was regarded as an elite event that offered cash prizes and swagged out perks, in contrast to the balling-on-a-budget productions that preceded it. Lords of the Floor was so popular, Red Bull brought it back in 2002, which was morphed into the BC One competition.

Lords of the Floor

Before the internet, breakers would exchange and collect VHS tapes, but the LOTF DVD ushered in a new era of cultural exchange. "All the B-boys in Russia told me that it was some of the first footage they’d ever seen," recalls B-boy El Niño.

Heading into the new millennium, breaking had become more official and relevant thanks to a network of international competitions. Theatrical productions and television shows like So You Think You Can Dance and America’s Best Dance Crew, reoriented this pillar of hip-hop back into the limelight. In addition, breaking will see a new wave of competition and international reach thanks to key events like Lords of the Floor and Red Bull’s BC One challenge.

B-girl Sunny was introduced to breaking in college back in 2008. Photo: Little Shao/Red Bull Content Pool

Although breaking grew to be a group endeavor it began with the individual. Red Bull’s BC One circles back to this dynamic with a one-on-one format. Since 2004, Red Bull has produced BC One competitions that welcome breakers from around the world, hosting regional competitions in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, culminating with a global finale.

Red Bull BC One

“When air flares and airpower got involved, it became undeniable as both an artistic dance and athletic sport,”

Winner's Circle

Breaking competitions continued to gain steam in the aughts and 2010s, alongside competitive dance TV shows, creating new visibility and opportunities for breakers. South Korea's R16 was launched in 2007, Outbreak Europe was established in Slovakia in 2010, and the OG events like Battle of the Year. Known for its machismo dynamic, B-girls are also competing in general matches or B-girl dedicated brackets. B-girl Sunny is a former gymnast and credits her thick skin for staying involved in the breaking scene. “The only reason that I’ve been able to stick with it is that I don’t care what anyone says or thinks about me.” The winner of the 2015 Outbreak Europe B-Girl solo battle and BC One World Finalist, Sunny is a favorite for the 2024 Olympic team.

“A lot of people say the Olympics add legitimacy, but I think we already had it,”

James Brown

Bruce Lee

Sugar Hill Gang

Blondie

Double Dutch

Flashdance

VHS Tapes

Freestyle Session

lords of the floor

Ronnie Abaldonado

BC One

From the Streets to the World Stage

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The Bronx is Burning

Beginning in the early 1970s, New York City was in a severe economic decline. The South Bronx—a Black, Puerto Rican, and working-class community in NYC—suffered from extreme arson due to sinking property values and it’s reported that almost 40% of the Bronx went up in flames during this era. Turning something out of nothing, young people in the neighborhood danced and DJ’d to distract from civic neglect. Cardboard dance floors on city streets and boomboxes made breaking an affordable and accessible form of creative expression.

Photo: James Newman

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The Boogie Down Bronx, Bruce Lee and Red Bull BC One: explore the origins and milestones of competitive breaking

The legendary b-boy, Anthony "Cholly Rock" Horne.

reflects Ronnie Abaldonado, Red Bull BC One World Final winner of America’s Best Dance Crew.

Before BC One came to the forefront, it was all about the crew battles, but then it became more about going one on one,” says RoxRite (aka Omar Delgado Macias). Video: Red Bull BC One 2004, Switzerland.

Video: Red Bull BC One 2004, Switzerland.

Freestyle Session 3, held in late 1998, featured the super crew, the Flying Tortillas, which brought international visibility to the competition. Photo: Chris Wright

Hip-hop was born from the ashes of a burning borough. Video: Getty Images.

Photo: James Newman

From the streets of the South Bronx to the world stage, breaking has remained a vibrant and influential element in the pop-cultural lexicon for over fifty years. There may be a debate in the breaking community about doing it for the culture or for the sport, but being included in the Olympics is vindication that breakers can’t stop and won’t stop.

Á Bientôt

Photo: David Corio/Redferns

New York City Breakers performing on Soul Train. Video by filmmaker and hip-hop vanguard, Michael Holman.

Photo: Getty Images

asserts Chris "CROS 1" Wright, co-founder of Freestyle Session.

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

In celebration of this rich history, the Red Bull BC One World Final touches down in New York City, the birthplace of hip hop, in November 2022. Go here to stay in the know on this upcoming event or go deeper into the origins of competitive breaking.

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Ronnie Abaldonado